


Walk Away

by KaytiKazoo



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Abusive Relationships, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/M, M/M, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2020-12-04
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:47:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27867853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaytiKazoo/pseuds/KaytiKazoo
Summary: Trevor finds out about Sequoia, and comes to Deke's defense.
Relationships: Sequoia/Deke Shaw, Trevor Khan/Deke Shaw
Comments: 4
Kudos: 15





	Walk Away

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DoctorFitzy (KittooningMalijah)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KittooningMalijah/gifts).



Trevor had already left for the day and had gotten halfway home when he realized that he’d forgotten his phone on Deke’s desk, and turned back around. His sister would berate him for the illegal  u-turn he pulled, but she wasn’t there. He’d left Deke finished up month-end reports, and that was only after Deke had reassured him that he didn’t need anything else.

“Hey Randy,” Trevor said as he passed into the lobby, letting himself in with his key fob.

“What are you doing back here?”

“Left my phone with Deke on accident.”

“Hate when I do that,” Randy replied.

“See you in a bit.”

Deke’s office was a few floors up and he was right where Trevor left him, except that the lights were off and there was a tension to Deke’s posture that Trevor had never seen before. He gently knocked on the door and the movement turned on the motion sensor lights. Deke startled as the lights illuminated the room, eyes darting up and around like a caged animal waiting for the whip to crack down on them.

“Hey, it’s just me. I forgot my phone,” Trevor said gently. He knew Deke’s past was indescribably dark, and it was only be the sheer force of Deke’s own will that kept Deke bright and shining each day, kept him moving forward when anyone else would’ve buckled. Trevor had never seen Deke like this before, though, withdrawn and tremoring. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah,” Deke said, and Trevor watched Deke plaster a fake smile on his face. 

“Are you sure?” 

He crossed the room and, while he wanted to go to Deke’s side, stopped at the front of the desk, facing him. Closer now, though, he could see Deke’s face was red. No, just his cheek was red, and it wasn’t the sweet rose of his blush. 

“Who did this to you?” he asked without thinking, the words stumbling out of him barely in the right order. He hadn’t been gone that long, but somehow in the last forty-five minutes, Deke had been slapped hard enough to leave a welt on his face. 

“It’s fine.”

“Was it Sequoia? Where is she?” Trevor turned as if he might find her hiding behind the door, shadowed like a villain. 

“It wasn’t Sequoia,” Deke said, shaking his head. “It’s fine,  Trev .”

“It’s not. What the fuck happened?” he asked, and then forced a slow breath out so he came off less confrontational. He stepped around the desk and took Deke’s chin gently in his hand, careful not to hurt him any more than he already had been. “Deke, what –”

He turned his face and inspected the welt. There was a scratch just under his cheekbone, like nails or, or a  _ ring _ . Sequoia had a very specific set of rings she wore when she was out, since she called them iconic and a part of her brand. 

“I will kill her,” Trevor said. Deke reached up and caught Trevor’s wrist.

“I’m  _ fine _ . Go home, Trevor. It’s late.”

“Deke, I’m not going to leave you here.”

There was a sound down the hall, the click of a door, and Deke pushed Trevor away, not roughly but with a quiet insistence. His eyes went a little wild, animalistic with that same fear he’d seen earlier. 

“Go home.” Trevor took a step back. “Please.”

“You know where I am,” Trevor said, taking his phone from the desk, “if you need me. I’m just a phone call away.”

“I’m fine.”

And Trevor could see even Deke didn’t believe it, but he stepped back away as the door opened again and Sequoia appeared.

“Okay, I’m ready to go, babe. We’ve got those reservations to get to. Oh, Trevor. You’re here.”

Trevor shook his phone at her. 

“Forgot this. If I didn’t call my sister tonight, she might think I’ve died and send the SWAT team in or something,” he said. “Over-protective seems to be a family trait, you know?”

Sequoia hummed at him, and walked over to Deke to tilt his head back and kiss him very obviously. Trevor watched for a moment, and then turned his head so he didn’t hurt her and get himself landed in jail. 

“I’ll see you on Monday,” Trevor said, and turned back just in time to see Deke looking away. That’s all they ever did, look away, and here he was doing it again when Deke needed him the most, but he couldn’t save Deke if he didn’t want it.

* * *

Deke ached, and he could taste metal in his mouth. He leaned over the trash can by his desk and spit out blood, just as Trevor walked back in. Trevor who wore soft sweaters, and brushed Deke with careful touches, who brought him a fresh-squeezed lemonade on bad days, and listened when he talked , not just listened but  _ cared _ . 

“You okay?” Trevor asked, setting down Deke’s tea on the desk and sank into the seat across from him where he’d work on sorting out Deke’s schedule as usual.

“Yeah.”

“I saw Sequoia on the way out,” he continued. 

“Yeah, we had lunch.”

“Did you actually eat anything?”

He peeked into the trash can and found Deke’s meal sitting at the bottom, barely touched. He hadn’t had much of an appetite recently. 

“I’m fine,  Trev .”

“What do you want? Sandwiches from Gilligan’s or maybe a salad from Spoons?”

“No, I’m fine.”

“Yeah, no, you’re eating. I’m feeling sandwiches. You want your usual, then?”

“Trevor.”

Trevor leaned towards him and Deke forgot how to breathe for a moment.  His eyes were so  honest,  sparkling  dark brown staring at Deke without wavering. 

“ Fine. Sandwiches sound good,” he conceded. Trevor nodded and went back to his phone to order their lunch.  He was wearing his lemon shirt under Deke’s favorite cardigan,  the blue one that Deke wanted to wrap himself in like it was a safety blanket. He couldn’t look away for a moment, even when Trevor looked up. They usually looked away, too afraid to see each other’s thoughts, but Trevor  was kind, and  soft, and he cared about Deke. That’s the part he didn’t understand. He couldn’t understand why Trevor cared enough to stick around. He wasn’t getting anything out of this, besides a paycheck, Deke supposed. But he got his paycheck regardless of whether or not he paid attention to Deke like this. 

Deke looked away first. 

“Drink your tea,” Trevor said sometime later. “I’ll be right back.”

He stood up and smiled at Deke before he went. Deke stared after him for a moment before picking up his tea and taking a sip. Green tea, his usual, with a single lemon wedge, no sugar. Even if he didn’t say anything, Trevor somehow just knew. He’d never had to tell Trevor his favorite tea either, it just started appearing on his desk one afternoon. He smiled into the cup’s lid.

His mom used to bring him a cup of tea when he was upset before he even knew he was upset or what it was he was upset about. Tea leaves weren’t easy to come by, so it only came out on special occasions, or on really big upsets. 

The door opened, and Deke looked up  expecting Trevor, but froze as Sequoia swayed in.

“ Hey babe,” she said. 

“Back so soon?” he asked,  forcing a smile onto his face. “And what do I owe the pleasure of your company?”

She smiled and circled his desk, peeking  at his computer where he’d only left up the interoffice chat they used between departments. It was a great way to stay connected and make sure everyone was on the same page. 

“ Missed you,” she cooed sweetly. She pushed at his chest so he rolled his chair back. Her fingernails hurt against his skin, but he didn’t flinch. He was getting better at not flinching.

She sank into his lap and took the tea from  him, taking a sip without asking permission. Her nose wrinkled and she  leaned over to spit the tea into the trash can, and set the tea forcefully on the desk in front of them. 

“How can you drink that? It’s so bitter,” she hissed. 

“I like it,” Deke said. She rolled her eyes at him. 

“ We’ll get you something  better than that.”

“I don’t want something else,” Deke said, and she gave him a look that stalled the rest of his argument. He really wanted Trevor to come back, Trevor who made the tea without Deke having to ask, who  made sure he ate, who asked what he wanted and knew his usual orders.  He never had to worry about Trevor, not hurting him or  lashing out at him or throwing away something he liked because Trevor didn’t.

“Excuse me?”

Deke took a steadying  breath and said softly, almost meekly, “I like that tea. Trevor made it –“ 

Which was the wrong thing to say. 

“Oh,  _ Trevor _ made it, did he?”

“Yes, he’s my assistant. He makes me stuff.”

“ I just think you’re too close.”

“Trevor isn’t – he’s my best friend,” Deke said. Sequoia pat his cheek sharply, not quite a slap but certainly harder than necessary. 

“I don’t like that you spend so much time with him.”

“He’s my assistant,” Deke replied evenly, “I can’t not spend time with him.”

“Find other things for him to do that aren’t in your office,” she said, the sweet sheen in her voice disingenuous. “You don’t need to spend this much time with him. Besides, what do you even need an assistant for?”

“I run an entire company. I’m the CEO. He handles a lot of stuff that I’m too busy to do.”

Sequoia sighed, and he knew he’d said the wrong thing. She stood up off his lap, and her hand sunk into his hair. Before he could ask her anything, her grip tightened, and he let out a quiet noise of pain and fear. 

So much for not flinching. 

“I’m too busy to worry about you and your pretty boy assistant,” she said. “I don’t know why you do this to me.”

“I’m not –”

“ Don’t interrupt me,” she said, “I was speaking.”

“ I’m sorry.”

“ I  don’t care if you have to fire him, but I don’t want him working so closely  with you. He’s too distracting for you.”

The door opened and  Deke looked up, praying. Trevor paused in the  door, their lunch in a neat brown paper bag carried in a plastic bag , and  looked over them both. 

“ Everything okay in here?”  Trevor asked.

“ I could use some help,” Deke said meekly.  “Could you,  uhh , get me a  tea?”

Trevor’s eyes flitted down to his  cup on his  desk, still steaming through the lid. 

“ I can,” Trevor said. “ Anything I can do for you in here first?”

“ No ,” Sequoia  cut in, voice sharp as her fingers dug into  Deke’s scalp. He bit his tongue to keep from  whimpering. “ We’re good here.”

“Excuse me, I was talking to  Deke, not you.”

“ Well, I’m answering for Deke,” Sequoia said. 

“No, I’m not comfortable with that.  I’d like a moment  alone with Deke if you don’t mind.”

“ I mind.”

Deke  tried to convince  Trevor with his eyes alone to help. 

“ Listen,” Trevor said,  walking  into the room and closing the  door behind  him. He set their lunch on the spare  chair by the door . “I understand  that you’re some  very important  influencer  to some tweens on the Internet, but I want you to  get your head out of your Instagram feed and  listen to  me. ”

She  released Deke’s hair to square off with Trevor, turning all of her attention going to him instead.  Deke scooted his chair back and  away from  her, and then stood up to  circle towards Trevor. She reached out and snatched his wrist before he could go too  far, digging her nails directly into the sensitive scar where his metric once had been . He  let out an audible whimper, panic spiking hot and  sharp in his chest. He couldn’t breathe.

Trevor leaned over the desk and grabbed  Sequoia’s hand.

“Let him go.”

He pried  her hand away from Deke’s wrist, and then took Deke’s hand once he was free. Deke followed Trevor’s guidance, circling the desk and to Trevor’s side. He kept hold of Deke’s hand, anchoring him  in the  moment to keep him from panicking.  No one had ever...

“It may not be my place, but I'm about to make it my place. I don’t like the way you treat Deke. I think you’re catty, and rude, and self-absorbed. You only care about the world if it benefits you or your  _ brand,  _ which is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. I also think that you’re only dating Deke for the Instagram posts, for the credit of having an attractive CEO as your boyfriend. ”

Deke turned his eyes away from Sequoia, not interested in her offended  indignation. No, he wanted to see Trevor,  his defense and protection.

“You don’t realize  how good of a partner you have.  He treats you like you’re absolute royalty, like you could never do anything wrong. You treat him like  he’s  gum on your very over-priced shoes.”

His face was intense,  but not mean or angry. He examined  the  planes of Trevor’s face, the soft downward curve of his lips, furrow of his eyebrows,  fierce affection in his gorgeous brown eyes. Deke hadn’t ever seen anyone care about him like that, not enough to defend him and  rescue him. Trevor was his own personal  knight in shining armor.

“ How long have you been sleeping with my boyfriend,  Trevor?” Sequoia asked instead of answering to any of the accusations laid in front of her.

“ She’s also a terrible listener,” Trevor remarked more to Deke than Sequoia. 

“She hears what she wants to hear,” Deke said. Trevor nodded.

“That makes sense,” Trevor said.  “ Are you okay with this? Do you want me to stop?”

“I’m okay. I don’t want her here anymore.”

He  rubbed the spot  where her nails had dug into his skin, fingertips brushing Trevor’s wrist and palm accidentally. Trevor turned back to  Sequoia with a little bit of a smile on his face, and it lightened his entire expression.

“ Deke has requested that you leave, so I suggest you do that on your own before I have you dragged out of here by security, and I will absolutely make sure that our interns record and post that  to every single social media site, and get it trending.  They can ruin your reputation and leave your  _ brand _ worthless.”

Deke took a  deep breath, the first  time all day he’d filled his lungs. 

“You wouldn’t.”

Trevor reached forward and picked up the desk phone from Deke’s desk with surprising  familiarity and lifted it to his ear. Sequoia’s expression  soured even further and  she let out a huff that  signaled some sort of flight in Deke’s stomach. He started to pull away to get away from Trevor, but Trevor held him fast and steady. 

“ You have ten seconds before I dial security and tell them we have an intruder who needs to be escorted out, and any force necessary is allowed.”

“You can’t make that decision!” she snapped.

“Watch me.”

It was a challenge if Deke had ever heard one.

“ You ruin my reputation, I ruin this company,”  Sequoia said,  hissed out like a snake. 

“The company can survive. Can you?” 

Deke  almost didn’t believe this was real. It couldn’t be. He had fallen asleep  at his desk after not eating lunch, or after Trevor had  left to get lunch. There was no way he was witnessing this. 

“Deke’s doing good in the world, making change happen and  making sure people’s lives are a little easier. What does your follower count do except stroke your ego? How do you think that fan base will react when we expose you as a manipulative, abusive  gremlin?”

She snarled a little, baring her teeth as if she could scare him away with that. 

“I’ll only ask you one more time, Sequoia. It’s time to go peacefully  or else I will absolutely personally drag you out of here myself.”

She snatched up her purse and  stalked around the desk, passing too close for Deke’s comfort. Trevor, though, put himself between Deke and her,  literally shielding him without flinching. Deke felt  weak, and pathetic, the shame rushing in that he needed to be saved at all. He should’ve known, he should’ve been able to get himself out, been strong enough to  break up with her. No, he needed to be rescued like a  damsel.

“If I ever see you touch him again,” Trevor said to Sequoia as she passed, “ I will absolutely ruin you, your career, your reputation. All of it gone in the blink of an eye.”

She slammed the door on the way out and Deke  sat back against his desk, pushing the computer monitor to the side with his back. Trevor turned around with a soft smile.

“Hey,” he said, and it was so sweet.  “Do you mind if I hug you?”

Deke shook his head quickly. Pathetic or not, he wanted that. Trevor stepped up to him, always slightly taller than Deke even without Deke slouching against the desk, and then wrapped him in the nicest hug he’d ever had. 

“Thank you,” Trevor said into  Deke’s hair as he had his head tucked down into Trevor’s shoulder. He was warm, and solid, and being near him was like the best fluffy scarf wrapped around your neck in the dead of winter.

“What?”

“For asking for help today. I’m really proud of you. That took a lot of courage.”

“ What.”

Trevor let his hand wander up Deke’s back, stroking  the back of his neck, and when he slid his hand gently into his hair, Deke didn’t flinch. Instead, he sank into it.

“ It’s easier to stay, even when it’s terrible. It’s easier to stay with what you’ve grown used to. It takes a lot of  courage to decide you want to leave and admit that you need help. I never wanted  you to get hurt, you know, I would’ve taken her on months ago, but you – you’re so brave, Deke.”

He pressed a  kiss to Deke’s temple.

“And you’re safe now.”


End file.
